Most of the people remember the KGB, that powerful and ruthless organ of repression whose ultimate task was the preservation of the Soviet Communist empire by whatever means necessary. Not everyone, however, remembers as clearly the KGB Fifth Chief Directorate, a department specifically responsible for disinformation effort, that is manipulating of the world public opinion in such a way that it would become favorable to Marxist doctrine (Marxist doctrine as interpreted by a particular “leader” of the moment, of course).

Current DEA disinformation campaign with respect to Medical Cannabis is clearly reminiscent of the Fifth Chief Directorate tactics, that is that “anything goes” as long as the “ideological goals” are accomplished, in the DEA case this being the denial of the safe access by patients with serious illnesses to medical marijuana. In particular, the DEA “desinfo” agents continue to insist that we “already have” medical marijuana and that its name is Marinol, or the synthetic THC “analogue” brought to the market in the 1980-s but never living up to the expectations that had been raised upon its introduction.

The very reason of Marinol’s limited success is that this medication and medical marijuana are two completely different things. Philosopher Georg Hegel would have had a lot to say about it, I am sure, and this is why. Medical marijuana, the whole plant with its dozens of active compounds acting in concert with one another constitute that Hegelian “whole”, which is much greater than the simple sum of its parts, and infinitely greater than any one individual part, even if such a part is a synthetic THC “analogue”.
The Whole is made that by the delicate interaction of the parts, and every individual part of the plant is what it is because of the unifying influence of the Whole. Having been a Professor of Logic at one time, our President should easily see the validity of these scientific and philosophical  concepts.

On May 21, 2010 CNN interviewed the current “Drug Czar” Gil Kerlikowske and as CNN put it, the first “Drug Czar”, Bill Bennett. I was impressed with Mr. Kerlikowske’s calm and reserved demeanor during the interview, and the only truly regrettable statement that he made was that “marijuana legalization is a non-starter in the Obama administration”. Silly me, for I would have thought that the public opinion should at least have a potential of influencing of what is a “starter” or “non-starter” in the Obama Administration, at least according to the President’s own pledge during his election campaign and again quite recently, when Mr. Obama stated that the “government must be given back to the people”. Well, Mr. President, every single poll indicates that 80%+ of the electorate favor the legalization of at least medical marijuana, and yet the DEA which is a part of your Administration, uses KGB-style tactics in order to prevent the will of the voters from being realized.

Another notable point of discussion during the CNN interview with two “drug czars” was that they both admitted, albeit somewhat reluctantly, that alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana. Just to say that alcohol is “more dangerous” is a gross understatement, as it is much, much more dangerous than cannabis, to such an extent in fact, that if cannabis had even a fraction of alcohol’s harmful effects individually and collectively, we would not be having this legalization discussion at all. In this respect, the moral and ethical philosophers would probably question the moral authority of the prohibitionists to keep marijuana, which is less dangerous illegal, while alcohol, which is infinitely more dangerous, legal and available to adults as it is. In my view, one of the compelling reasons to legalize cannabis is that its use has been definitely shown to suppress violent behavior, and what can be more important than this, especially with regard to young people! This moral dilemma becomes even more pronounced when we talk about medical cannabis which is still illegal in most of the States despite the people’s will and despite its relative safety compared with alcohol and most controlled prescription drugs.

Recently it has become apparent that the president’s political opponents, and even those sympathetic to “Tea Party” movement, recognize the necessity to change the cruel, anti-scientific and failed marijuana laws in this country. I believe that it would be a political blunder for President Obama to allow his opponents to embrace the issue that should have been his own from the very beginning! Indeed I, quite frankly, don’t care if the people who advocate for personal liberties with respect to marijuana legalization call themselves “Tea Party” or “Orange Juice Party”, or “Coconut Milk Party”. In this particular respect, that is that it is a matter of personal liberty to be able to legally use the less dangerous substance when the more dangerous is already legal, the Tea Party supporters (and whoever else shares the same ideology) are most definitely on the side of  the truth.

On November 2, 2010, the voters of the State of California will act to legalize Cannabis use for recreational purposes by the responsible adults. According to my information, the country’s best Constitutional lawyers are behind this noble Initiative. It is extremely “telling” that the City of Oakland City Council, as well as that City’s DA have endorsed the Initiative. These people have acted from experience, as they’ve had an ample opportunity to observe the societal effects of Cannabis Liberation.
In the end, ladies and gentlemen, we will all be judged by history. Those of us who support the legalization of cannabis will be remembered as pioneers of yet another liberation movement, but those who oppose it, the obstinate “drug-warriors”, like Bill Bennett, will live in our memory just like the “cold warriors”, the architects of the Berlin Wall, the ideological “heirs” to disinformation campaigns once conducted by the KGB and its infamous Fifth Chief Directorate.

The national debate concerning the legalization of marijuana and, especially, of medical marijuana, continues to rage not just within the general public, but also including special groups of people like mothers and Baby Boomers. Within the facebook community the groups such as “moms for marijuana” and “baby boomers for medical marijuana” have as their primary goal educating people, challenging the preconceived ideas and battling ignorance with the only effective weapon against it – knowledge.

I worked in addictions for almost 10 years, and my addiction medicine experience encompasses general drug-addiction clinics, methadone maintenance programs and “detox” and “rehab” departments of a general hospital. I am also certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine since 2004. My addiction medicine education and experience unequivocally indicate that it is a gross scientific fallacy to classify marijuana in the same group with heroin and cocaine. It is also my opinion that marijuana is much safer than alcohol and most controlled prescription drugs. However, when such an “unorthodox” opinion is expressed, people have the right to know what exactly it is based on.

Let’s begin with the known fact that there has never been one single case of a fatality associated with marijuana use, and it has been used by humans for over 10,000 years for both medicinal and recreational purposes. How many substances do we know that fit this characterization? Not many, I assure you, especially when we look among substances used as medicine or even for recreational purposes. Even such over-the-counter remedies as Aspirin and Tylenol can produce severe organ damage and fatal outcomes when the “toxic” dose of these substances is ingested. But there are no known cases of fatal marijuana intoxication because amazingly, the cannabinoid receptors, as opposed to opiate receptors, for example, are quite scarce in close proximity to the vital centers in the brain stem, the centers responsible for breathing and circulation. With marijuana use sleep will supervene long before any dangerously “toxic” effects can take place.

Now let’s look at such dangerous consequences of alcohol, heroin and controlled prescription drugs as physical dependence and associated physical withdrawal syndrome. No one will venture to deny that alcohol, opiates, barbiturates and benzodiazepines produce severe physical dependence with (frequently life-long) methadone maintenance therapy that becomes necessary for opiate addicts and the well-known cycles of the “revolving doors” of “detoxes” and “rehabs” for benzodiazepine addicts. In fact, the benzodiazepine/methadone combination is so dangerous that some physicians (who are, thankfully, in the minority) seriously believe that such a combination is more dangerous than heroin itself, and will deny methadone maintenance to patients using those substances. As we know, benzodiazepine withdrawal is very similar to alcohol withdrawal, and it is characterized by hallucinations, severe anxiety, seizures and even death. Opiate withdrawal is generally not life-threatening, but it sure is brutal. It is easy to see why I so strenuously object to current DEA classification system, and urge my colleagues do the same. It makes no scientific sense at all to classify the substance like marijuana which has neither a documented physical withdrawal, nor any fatalities associated with its use as Schedule I (which totally ignores the remarkable medicinal properties of Cannabis Sativa, but this is another matter), while classifying Codeine as Schedule III and benzodiazepines as Schedule IV. What better ally could I wish for than the American Medical Association itself which now not only recognizes the medicinal properties of the Cannabis plant, but also urges the Government to change its classification from Schedule I drug, while the Canadian veterans already won the right to have this natural remedy paid for by their government!

Let’s look more closely at the main argument that the marijuana “opponents” offered (at least until very recently) as their “trump card” objection to the legalization of that substance. This objection is based upon the so-called “gateway drug” theory that basically states that, even if marijuana is not dangerous in itself, it serves as a “gateway drug” to the use of other, much more dangerous substances. This “theory” is by now discredited by the science of addiction medicine as invalid. Here are the reasons why. There is no “cause and effect” relationship between a substance use and a subsequent addiction to another substance. Most of us have tasted alcohol, consumed caffeinated beverages, eaten sweet foods or even smoked cigarettes, but we have not “progressed” to being cocaine or heroin addicts as a result. As “Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook” explains, most people who are addicted to anything became addicted not because they had used some “gateway” drug, but because they are somehow genetically prone to this or that particular addiction, such as alcoholism, for example. People don’t become alcoholics because they may have smoked a joint that “led” them to alcohol abuse, they are alcoholics because they have a genetic predisposition to become dependent on that particular substance. The opiate addicts whom I treated for many years began their addiction careers not because they were exposed to marijuana, but either as a result of a primary exposure to heroin, or as a result of opiates having been prescribed to them by medical professionals. Here we deal with yet another aspect of this story – the substance’s addiction liability, or the percentage of people who develop an addiction-spectrum disorder after an exposure to a particular substance. Marijuana has an addiction liability of 3%, compared with 10% for alcohol, 18% for cocaine, up to 21% for opiates, and between 50 and 75% for nicotine. This is why even our President has such trouble quitting cigarettes out of all the substances that he had “tried” while a young man. This constitutes yet another big reason why the classification of marijuana as the Schedule I substance is nothing short of ridiculous. It was recently discovered that the same brain centers become activated when a person is craving sugar and cocaine. Are we now to consider sugar as a “gateway drug” to cocaine? Well, this would follow if the so-called “gateway drug” theory were valid. But it is not valid. A colleague whom I befriended on facebook brought up an interesting question; he pointed out that most patients in “detoxes” and “rehabs” smoke cigarettes, and this is very true. This alone would invalidate the “gateway drug” theory in my opinion.

I believe that we, as medical professionals, should not be puppets to the DEA and its outdated and scientifically faulty scheduling classifications. Without brave doctors, and nurses, and researchers who are not afraid to stand up and proclaim the scientific truths we would never have legalized medical marijuana in one single State. Let me point out something more: if marijuana had even a fraction of the dangers caused by alcohol, we would not be having this conversation at all. But we are having this conversation, and it is a necessary conversation, just as it was a necessary conversation during the days long passed, when the courageous thinkers of those days asserted, often sacrificing their own safety, that the earth is not flat!